Embers Of A Song
by HowAboutTeam
Summary: When Lisanna, the lead singer for the band Fairy Tail (named after the nightclub Fairy Tail) gets stuck in a coma, a new replacement is found- Lucy Heartfilia. Will the band be able to stick as one? Or did the disappearance of their lead crumble their wall? High School and Music AU. A bit OOC.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, so HowAboutTeam decided to do the first AU. Enjoy- and honestly, we don't know what's gonna happen either.**

 _ **Credits: Purrfectly Me ;3, Joanne Park :D, Hiro Mashima (Owner :)**_

 **Disclaimer: We don't own Fairy Tail, characters, or anything else than the plot.**

* * *

Natsu could still remember the day.

Lisanna had stepped up, lead singer, lyrics memorized and Natsu right behind her. She had smiled, gripping onto her microphone as hundreds of eyes blinked and stared at her and her band. And then, she launched into song.

"Hey fairy, where you going, I'm trying to assemble all this light," she sang, Wendy softly playing along to the gentle tune. "I'll shine it down and make tomorrow bright!"

Immediately, Natsu, Gray, and Erza started to play. Gray's hands flying across the many drums that stood before him. Erza was playing backup guitar, Wendy's small fingers dancing across the black and white keys of her keyboard, other hand adjusting the tune so that it fit exactly with the song. Natsu gripped his red pick as his electric guitar roared to life. A deep and loud sound ricochet out the speakers, filling the whole room with a booming noise. Natsu aimed a smile at Lisanna.

The crowd cheered as Lisanna pranced up and down the small stage, singing beautifully. "Oh, yeah!" she sang, Wendy and Erza backing her up. "Do you hear the voices calling out your name?"

"Oh, yeah," hummed Erza and Wendy. "Because I lost my voice while doing the same!"

"Oh, yeah!"

Lisanna sang with the grace of an angel, white hair framing her face as she hummed out the lyrics. "I'll never quit until I feel your beating heart. Oh, yeah! Oh yeah!"

Natsu whipped his hand back and forth on the cords, aiming a high flat. It echoed through the room, matching with Lisanna's voice. He aimed a grin at the crowd, making them scream.

"The sun and moon have joined in celebration!" Gray followed that up with a loud _bang_ on his drums. "Have you forgotten our affiliation?" Erza let out a loud chord that sizzled the air. "When you're not here to share your laughter with me, I just can't find the inspiration-"

Once again, the entire club nearly exploded with the sound of noise that filled the air as Natsu's flaming red guitar thumped, a beating sound ricocheting off the walls. Every gentle stroke letting out a blast of noise.

"Now it's snowing, keep going, be honest, keep smiling, 'cause we're approaching, the clock keeps on ticking, and it never stops," belted out Lisanna with one breath as her bandmates ripped out the chords and beats of their instruments, entire club roaring with applause.

"Hey fairy, where you going, I'm trying to assemble all this light!" shouted out Lisanna, smiling wide. "I'll shine it down and make tomorrow- _bright!_ "

And with that last word, Natsu and Erza's hands were barely visible as they boomed out the rest of the song, Gray keeping them on beat while Wendy kept the song mutual. With a last chord, Natsu ended the stunning song, club exploding with applause.

Lisanna grinned as she tossed the mic over to Natsu, who caught it with ease. "Thank you all for coming!" he shouted, as the background screeched with feedback nobody heard for the air was filled with whistles, roars, and claps. "This song was dedicated to this amazing club, _Fairy Tail,_ " he smiled as the noise level grew. "Now, we would like to first wish everyone a happy Christmas," he said as the crowd hollered. "And this was our present to you- Snow Fairy! Thank you all, and goodnight!"

Backstage, the group gathered around. "Nice job guys! We owned it out there!" Natsu smiled cheekily. "'Night guys! See you at school tomorrow," they waved goodbye to each other.

"Hey, Natsu?" Lisanna looked at the pink-haired boy. Natsu grinned. "What's up?" Lisanna smiled. "That was a great night, right?" Natsu's smile got wider. "'Course it was. What else?" Natsu started for the door.

"You know I'll always have your back, right?"

Natsu stopped.

He raised a hand. "Of course I do. And I'll always have yours. Got that?" Lisanna went up to him, smiling wide. "Yeah."

Before she was out the door like the others, her lips brushed the side of Natsu's face. "Merry Christmas, Natsu. I love you," she whispered before she backed out.

Natsu stood there, blinking, a faint blush on his cheeks. Then he snapped out of it and grabbed his precious guitar. He had smiled. _What a night._

What a night it was, indeed.

* * *

Lisanna had been walking out the front door. She spotted Mira walking down the same road.

She ran up to her sister, smiling big. "Hey, Mira! How was our performance?" Mira sniffed. "It wasn't trash, for Erza's work." Lisanna made a silly face. "You know, I made the lyrics." "I knew it."

Lisanna kept walking, turning the bend. "Hey, do you know where Elfman's gone? I needed to give him his birthday present," she said as she warmed her hands up. Mira _tch_ 'ed. "He's probably off drinking somewhere, whining about his pet dying. He's never gotten over that old parakeet, did he?" Lisanna frowned slightly. "Even so, it's worrying…"

A honking horn sounded in the distance.

Mira made another face, then wiped Lisanna's face. "You're sweating. How are you sweating after _singing?_ " Lisanna laughed slightly, a tinkling sound filling the air. "It's stressing, Mira. Have _you_ ever sang?" Mira sniffed and turned away. "I never had the reason to."

They kept on chatting, turning this way, crossing over that, until they stood in front of their apartment. Mira kept on going in. "Let's go."

Lisanna stopped her. "Mira, we need to wait for big brother Alf. He would want to see us, right?" Mira pursed her lips. "He's not here?"

Lisanna frowned, worried.

Just then, a screeching sound echoed through the neighborhood. Mira startled and started heading towards the noise, but Lisanna gasped as a monster truck came into view. She realized who was the driver in a split second.

"MIRA!"

It was like suspended animation- like time stood still. Mira was standing, frozen, in front of the monster truck, eyes wide with fear and shock.

But then time unfroze.

Lisanna charged in front of Mira. "ELFMAN!" she screamed as she pushed Mira out of the way.

But it was too late.

As the truck swerved and skidded, Mira had time to duck down and roll as Lisanna stood in front of the truck, arms open.

The truck came a close second to hitting her as she smiled faintly and whispered, "I love you."

And it hit its target.

Lisanna flew a full thirty feet and slammed into the side of a house before landing down, _hard,_ on the snowing ground. Mira, who was barely missed, was hit by the bumper of the car and skidded ten feet.

Blood was pooling under Lisanna's white hair, staining it cherry red. Her eyes stared up blankly at the sky, arms pinned to her sides.

Mira screamed and ran to her, ignoring her broken leg and arm as she scrambled up to sprint towards Lisanna.

Her mouth was still poised in a smile.

Lisanna looked peaceful, calm- like she was about to go to sleep. The owner of the house shouted and called the hospital. Mira cradled Lisanna's bleeding head.

Before Lisanna passed out, her mouth twitched, as she rasped, "Keep smiling."

And then her voice was silenced forever.

* * *

Natsu was sitting in the hospital, eyes wild, hands holding Lisanna's cold ones.

They explained what had happened kindly. Lisanna had been hit by a car, flew at least twenty feet before landing a seven feet fall. Even if they could have gotten to her quicker, it would have been impossible to get her awake in time.

She was stuck in a coma, eyes open and blank, a fan expression of shock on her face. Mira had sobbed, pounding her fists into the bed and screaming that it should have been her on the bed, her that was granted eternal sleep, her that died and Lisanna living.

Right now, Mira was inside the hospital, taking something for sleep and shock.

Elfman was also inside, brain damage severe. He had been drinking that night and tried to drive as well, resulting in hitting his sister.

Natsu felt like he was breaking into pieces over again.

His trembling fingers brushed the still-warm spot where Lisanna had kissed him that Christmas. He couldn't believe that Snow Fairy was the last song that she would ever sing.

As tears started to refill his eyes, he slammed two hands on the drawer as he recalled her last words to him.

 _I love you._

* * *

 **Oh my Mavis, we finished that in one night.**

 **But obviously, we must give out some shout outs because those lyrics weren't ours :P Those lyrics are from NateWantsToBattle, a youtuber to made his cover of Snow Fairy. Go check him out, his english covers are awesome.**

 **And yes, this is a NaLu fanfic, so don't freak… we just needed to add this in for it to make sense. Btw, this hospital is called Edolas Anima.**

 **See you all next chapter!**

 **Peace from Magnolia,**

 **~HowAboutTeam :]**


	2. Chapter 2

**Heyy guys!**

 **This chapter is three years after Lisanna 'dies', fast-forwarding to the day where Lucy is introduced. Also, to clear the air, the band name is** _ **FairyTail,**_ **named after the club, obviously.** _ **Fairy Tail**_ **is a club in the AU, just in case you were wondering. Warning… may have bad words :P**

 **Also, we suggest listening to the** _ **Fairy Tail Main Theme**_ **while reading the first song, and listen to** _ **Lyra's Song**_ **when reading, well, you know. And all the rest- it just makes the story more magical :P**

 **Let's go!**

 _ **Credits: Joanne Park :D, Purr-chan :3**_

 **Disclaimer: We don't own anything here.**

* * *

Lucy muttered a word as she slammed into a person, sending all of her books flying in every other direction.

The stranger cocked his head. "Sorry, didn't see you there." Lucy scowled slightly; she wasn't in the best mood. "Yeah. No problem," she muttered as she got onto her hands and knees, gathering her sheets of paper.

When she looked up again, she had a sharp intake of breath.

The stranger's hair was _pink._

She frowned as she pointed at his head. "Question? Sorry if I'm being rude, but why is your hair pink…?" she quipped as she struggled to hold up all of her papers and books. The stranger laughed and took on some of the books. "It's my natural hair color, a genetic thing or something. You like reading?" he said, noticing her stack of books. Lucy probably blushed slightly. "Uh, yeah."

The stranger stopped and offered his steady hand, the other perfectly balancing the tall stack of books and paper. "I'm rude. My name is Natsu," he said as he shook his hand. Lucy blinked. "Isn't your nickname Salamander?"

Natsu chuckled and went straight on. "Yeah, but it's only my band nickname. What school do you go to?" he said as they turned the bend.

Lucy smiled. "I go to Magnolia High."

Natsu stopped, momentarily causing Lucy to stumble and trip.

"Magnolia High? I go there!" he said while smiling. Lucy blinked. "You do?"

Natsu shook his head yes. "Yeah."

They resumed walking.

Natsu noticed something on the top of his pile as he voiced, "You write songs?"

Lucy now tripped again. "Huh?"

Natsu was smirking. "You write songs. Don't you?" Lucy felt her cheeks warm. "Y-yeah," she stammered.

Immediately, a huge smile spread across his face. "I've got an offer for ya." He leaned in close, so close Lucy could see the black and amber flecks in his dark green eyes.

"I owe you, right? Come to band practice in the club _Fairy Tail,_ listen to us play, and if you like our music, join us." Natsu now backed away from her, them arriving at the school. He tipped the rest of her books in her open backpack. "I'll see you at practice, okay?"

Then, he left.

Lucy stood, frozen as she replayed their conversation.

Then she gasped. She remembered what Salamander was famous for in school. He played stunning music with his band- and he was also one of the most _popular boys in school._

She bit back a groan. She had just snapped at Salamander. She groaned as she tripped again, and this time she landed face-on.

She got up, thinking about her dead mother.

* * *

Natsu groaned. "Come on, guys, it's a simple four-four beat!"

Ever since Lisanna left them, Natsu had taken over as head. "Maybe it's the wrong beat because it was issued by _you,_ " muttered Gray insultingly. Immediately, Natsu shoved his face in Gray's. "What's that supposed to mean!" he barked as he held Gray's front. Gray shoved him. "It means that you're crap at writing songs, Pyro."

Erza barked, "Stop this _now!_ "

Behind them, Wendy whimpered, "Please stop…"

Natsu turned around to see Lucy, who was staring at them. "Oh! Guys, this is Lucy. Lucy, this is Erza," he said, pointing to the scarlet-haired girl, "Wendy"- he now pointed at Wendy, who waved shyly- "Gray-" Gray casually flipped a drumstick and winked at Lucy- "And yeah."

Erza frowned. "You brought a stranger to our practices?" Natsu shook his head sheepishly. "No, just… she writes songs, and I thought she could maybe work with us," he said.

Lucy nodded and sat down, big brown eyes round as she took in all of their equipment.

Gray grinned. "Natsu, you're on." He struck up a new beat- a beat that everyone was familiar with. Wendy grinned as she switched the keyboard's theme to violin as she played along. The tune rose and fell, rose and fell.

Erza waited for the right moment, then as Wendy started she slammed a hand down on her guitar, playing backup for the tune. Now all that was left was Natsu…

When he was a step ahead.

His red pick flew as the cords vibrated against the hollow inside of the guitar, echoing across the loudspeakers as he played with Wendy, Erza, and Gray all together.

Wendy kept them all in tow, her bow moving quickly as she headed the entire tune. Although there weren't any words, although it added a strange mix of instruments…

They all sounded _right._

And as Lucy saw the four-man band perform, all she thought was, _Wow._

Outside, they seemed so immature and so out of sync. But once they played and worked together… they were a team. An undivided force.

And then, Wendy changed the violin to the acoustic guitar as the tune rapidly rose in sound. Natsu and Erza's hands were barely visible, Gray's drumsticks flying through the air as he struggled to keep the beat.

And as the song ended with a huge _bang_ from Gray's drums, silence awaited them.

Lucy got up, a huge smile on her face. "You've got a deal."

Slowly, a smile grew on the band's faces. "Yes!" yelled out Natsu, as Wendy came up to Lucy and embraced her with an adorable smile. "Welcome to the team," chorused Erza and Gray.

Lucy nodded, seriousness settling in her eyes. "I can't play music as well as you guys. In fact, the only thing I can play is violin. But I can write songs, and I can sing." She brought out sheets of paper. She looked at Wendy. "This one requires harp, and I'm guessing that can be an option on your piano, correct?" Wendy nodded, then switched her tune to harp. Lucy handed her the sheet of music.

Then she began to sing one of her own songs, _Lyra's Song_ , named after the constellation Lyra.

Wendy began to play a soft song, much different than the songs she usually played.

At first, Lucy was self-conscious of the band staring at her, but she began to loosen up. "Words are born into air," she sang softly, voice high and smooth. "And quickly fade out in the wind… but they find their way insi-ide you, where they live on forever more…"

Wendy kept the thing going, impressively keeping up with Lucy as this was a song she had never played before.

Lucy let herself go and sang her heart out, pouring out her soul and her pain of losing her one love. "When the skies are dark and full of rain, look inside… your hea-art," she sang, a heartbeat away from crying.

Wendy kept on playing, her fingers softly hitting the black and white keys as she kept her foot on the pedals that smoothed the thing into one. "The light, so warm will come and glow… shining just like the suuuun…" breathed out Lucy, voice indistinguishable and yet the loudest sound of all. "You can see, just how much you've grown. How strong you are…"

For some reason, Gray's eyes were shining like tears were about to spill from his eyes.

Lucy kept going, song nearly over. "A love… will open up to you. And it starts from the day that you, first heard those words…" Her fairy-like voice faded out as Wendy played the soft notes that completed the song. "Oooooohh," hummed Lucy.

A stunned silence awaited them.

Then Erza came up to Lucy and hugged her. "You are an amazing singer. That was a most amazing song. Did you really come up with that yourself?" she said as she let go of Lucy. She smiled. "Yeah."

Natsu high-fived Lucy. "Whoo, I'm all fired up now! You are definitely a part of our team!" he cheekily grinned. Gray was in the corner, casually wiping his eyes. Wendy was with him, a hand on his shoulder.

Lucy blinked. Then smiled. "You liked it?"

Natsu made a face. "No, we didn't like it, and that's why you made Fiore's number one band." He said sarcastically. Lucy giggled and pumped a fist into the air. "Alright! So what do I do exactly…?" she said sheepishly. "Well… you are a pretty good songwriter," Natsu smiled at her. Lucy blushed. "But my songs aren't even that good…"

Erza wrapped an arm around her. "If they're that bad, let's try out one of them!" Lucy stammered. "W-what?"

Gray shrugged. "Why not?" Wendy's face brightened. "Yeah! Let's do it!"

And so went their first band practice.

Later, at the club…

Lucy took a sharp intake when she saw all of the people gathering around the stage. "You guys are _that_ popular here?" she whispered. "Psh. We're only Fiore's number one band!" Natsu aimed a full smile at her. "You'll be fine," he said. _She reminds me so much of Lisanna._

Wendy smiled and whispered, "It's okay, you're amazing at singing. Natsu's right." She was dressed in an adorable dress that reached her mid-thighs. It was a thin noodle-strap with little wings sewn to the ends. It stuck to her tight, the blue and yellow designs imitating billowing waves. Her hair was held in cute pigtails. A cute blue bow on her lace trim topped it off.

Lucy swallowed as the light shined on stage. She was standing in the middle, blonde hair tied back in a cute white bow. "Who's the new girl?" yelled out one of the people in the crowd. "She looks hot," muttered another. Natsu smiled, then gestured to Wendy.

She grinned as she turned on her keyboard to the base flute, and Gray started them off. He clacked his drumsticks on a _one, two one, two_ beat.

Then, the speakers exploded with noise as electric guitar, bass flute, and drums filled the air.

Natsu, Gray, and Erza began singing, "Whoooaaaaa, whoooaaaaa," as Lucy stood, tapping her feet to the beat. "Whoooaaaaa, whoooaaaaa!"

Immediately, Lucy began singing, Natsu in the lower key. "It'll be alright! I'll start to yell it out a few countless times, because I believe that your every day will have to be shining, no matter what cost," sang Lucy and Natsu in perfect harmony, Gray and Erza and Wendy backing them all up.

Natsu strummed a few chords on his own acoustic guitar, keeping in tune with the music. Behind them, Gray drummed, his sticks beating across the many drums. "The intersection of all people whose dreams have come true is all at one single point: it's never giving up, that's why we are not ever gonna let ourselves lose!" sang Natsu and Lucy, Lucy on the higher pitch. "When it seems like you'll be blown away by the headwinds, grasp this land, try to take a chance," sang Lucy. She was singing the bridge.

Behind them, Gray was pounding on the drums, Erza plucking the strings on her rock guitar, Wendy backing them all up with the smooth jazz of the bass flute.

As Lucy continued, Natsu just played guitar as he admired Lucy's voice. It was sweet, and clear. _She reminds me so much of Li-_ Natsu froze. _Lisanna._ He whispered. "Natsu! Natsu…" He remembered her shouting his name.

"NATSU! You bastard, snap out of it!" Gray whispered furiously from behind the drum set. "Huh?" Natsu came back to reality. The whole club was silent, Lucy, Wendy, Erza, and Gray were all staring at him. He dropped his guitar after a second look at Lucy. After a awkward moment of silence, he whispered, "I-I can't," and he ran off.

"S-sorry! Our apologies! W-we're experiencing some difficulties… S-see you next week!" Wendy announced. The group headed home after saying farewell to each other. Lucy went out to look for Natsu.

She spotted him in the alleyway behind the club. "Hey," she said as she sat next to him. "Sorry I ran out like that…" he replied. "It's fine," she looked at him with a smile. "Is something wrong?" She asked him. Natsu turned to look at Lucy. "You remind me so much of… of… Lisanna," he barely said. "Lisanna?" She asked. "Lisanna. She used to be the lead singer of our group," Natsu teared up. "Where is she now?" Lucy said curiously. "Sh-she… I gotta go," Natsu got up and ran. "Wait! Natsu!" Lucy raised a hand at the already-fading silhouette in the distance.

She had the strangest feeling like he was going to tell her something extremely important…

* * *

 **WHAT SORCERY IS THIS WE FINISHED TWO CHAPTERS IN A WEEK? XO**

 **Hehehe but hey guys! By the way, the song that they started but didn't finish was FT, the third opening for Fairy Tail anime. If you would be so kind, please leave a review :)**

 **See you all next chapter!**

 **Peace from Magnolia,**

 **~HowAboutTeam :]**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you all for actually taking time to read this ^-^**

 **Anyway, we're gonna find some more singing in here (we think) and some NaLu (we think) and some Lisanna flashbacks (we really don't know guys xD)**

 **Remember, try listening to the songs while reading this story, cause it's designed to be like that :P.**

 _ **Disclaimer: We don't own anything.**_

 **Credits: Purrfectly Me :3, Joanne Park :D**

* * *

After Natsu had run away, he felt terrible- not just inside, but out too.

 **Da next day** … **:3 -Purr-chan**

Once he got to school, he received a blow from Erza and a headbutt from Gray. "You damaged our reputation, Natsu!" she chided. He rubbed his head and mumbled. "Sorry…"

And once he broke free, he was thrown against the wall by Gray, shirtless and sweating. "DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I WAITED FOR YOU, PYRO?" he yelled. Natsu managed a faint grin. "Yeah, didn't know you cared that much, ice prick." Gray growled, but before he could do anything they were separated by Wendy and Lucy. "Stop it!" said Wendy indignantly. Lucy crossed her arms. "Yeah," she agreed.

Natsu froze.

There she was again.

Lisanna.

Noticing him clam up, Lucy frowned. "Something wrong?" Natsu shook his head, sweat already beading on his forehead. "Nothing."

He had to tell someone before it broke him.

Later on in the day, he went up to band practice, the entire group ticked off at him. "You are late," ordered Erza. Gray flipped his drumsticks. "Yeah, cut slacking and get moving." Wendy frowned. "Natsu, are you sure there's nothing wrong?"

But Lucy stayed silent, eyeing him.

Natsu smiled and slung his guitar case off of his back. "Nah, I'm fine. Let's go," he said hurriedly. The team exchanged glances, then nodded.

Lucy unslung her backpack and took out five different sheets of paper. "Wendy," she said, passing one to Wendy, "Erza-" one to Erza, "Gray-" one to Gray, "and Natsu."

Natsu squinted at the music. "Why's it so cheesy?" he complained. Erza hit him over the head with her metal-gray guitar, and he winced. "OW!" he complained. Erza gave him a dark look. "This song is plenty good, Natsu. Shall we start?" she motioned to Lucy. She nodded nervously.

The song would start with Lucy singing the beginning of the song, _Magic Of Smiles_ **(A little note: It's** _ **Egao No Mahou :)**_. She took a deep breath, then sang.

"Whenever I'm with you," her voice quavered. She forced a breath. "Everything feels- feels alright. Love can come true, so go and turn the dial- cast the magic of smiles!"

Immediately, Natsu sprung into an amazing guitar intercept, with Gray, Wendy, and Erza backing him up.

Then he got a note wrong. "Aaargh!" He said, cutting the intercept short. Gray groaned. "Come on, Flame Brains. Get it right." Wendy however, smiled. "It's okay, he could get things wrong," she chirped. Erza nodded. "Wendy is correct; that was good for our first time. From the top!" she said, commanding voice sweeping through the team.

"Aye."

Hours later, they finally got it perfectly right.

"Yes!" cheered Natsu and Lucy, as Erza and Gray high-fived each other. Wendy was still practicing. "A, then A flat… G, E, F, G, A…" she murmured as she pressed the keys. Lucy came over. "Hey, Wendy," she greeted. Wendy glanced up, then smiled brightly. "Hello!"

Lucy leaned on the sparkly cloud-blue keyboard. "I never got to know you much… how long have you played key?" Wendy smiled. "About eight years. And still going!" Lucy whistled.

She turned to the open stage. "Who do you play for? Like, is there anyone that watches you play in particular?"

Wendy nodded and blushed. "Two people, actually. One of them is my adoptive brother, Jellal Fernandes." Lucy nodded, impressed. "Jellal… hmm, isn't he the one who had a shady reputation in the school?" Wendy shook her head. "He only did those things because he was blackmailed to, nothing more. Now, he's actually pretty nice."

Lucy nodded. "And… you said there are two people?"

Was it just her, or did Wendy just blush?

"Yeah, his name's Romeo Conbolt, and he's also a good friend to Natsu and well. Natsu got his dad out of trouble a while back." Lucy raised an eyebrow. "And your connection to him is…?" Wendy's tinted red cheeks now became an apple red. "Uh… we went to middle school together," she offered. Lucy tilted her head. "That all?" Her cheeks grew an even deeper red. "U-uh…"

Lucy laughed and rubbed Wendy's head. "Keep it up, Wendy."

Later, that night…

Lucy smiled stunningly as she went up to the stage. She was starting to get the hang of this 'showing your best smile' concept. "Good," whispered Natsu. "Smiling is good." Lucy nodded, then took the microphone.

"Don't screw it," hissed Gray to Natsu. He shot him a withering look. "Geez, get over it."

Lucy talked into the microphone. "Sorry for the holdup yesterday, we had a minor issue. But we're ready now," she twinkled. The crowd hooted with applause.

She took a deep breath. "This is called _Magic Of Smiles,_ dedicated to our newfound band! I hope you enjoy it!" Then she signaled to Wendy, Erza, Natsu, and Gray to get ready.

"Whenever I'm with you, everythiiing feels alright. Love can come true, so go and turn the dial- cast the magic of smiiiiles!" Lucy sang, her voice now lidded and strong, much different to when she sang _Lyra's Song._

Natsu and Erza sprang into a stunning solo, their hands working their way up and down their guitars as the different chords molded perfectly into their solo. Gray was behind them, keeping the beat on track as he pounded his sticks on his drums, trying to overcome Natsu's booming strings.

When they slowed down, Lucy sprang into song. "In a strong world full of problems, I just wanted to-o see.. A pretty face, a friendly grin," cooed Lucy as Wendy played backup key, little fingers flying across their own black and white stage, dancing and working their way. The others were doing their best- Natsu and Erza perfectly playing rock guitar, Gray pounding on his drums like it just didn't matter.

Lucy kept on singing, voice rising and lowering with the tune and turn of the music. "The halted ti-ime starts to move, after I met you… whatever am I doing now...ow?" The crowd cheered as Lucy walked across the stage, Natsu trailing after her like a leaf to the wind.

Her voice quieted down as she got to the bridge. "Why are we walking the earth? Why are we here right now?" Erza flipped her hair as her left hand changed the tunes in the speed of a shining light. "I don't need a difficult answer, just need to know how…"

The speakers burst into song, the crowd wild. Gray's hands were flying across his drum set as he winked at multiple girls in the crowd, who nearly fainted. "We will laugh, we will cry, we'll be honest and kind… simple feelings matter the most on tho-ose saddened nights!" shouted Lucy.

Natsu pumped a hand into the air as he missed a few notes, giving the crowd a good laugh. Erza shot him a look as she played his part. Lucy smiled. _They really are meant to be together._

Wendy slammed a petite hand on her keyboard, trailing it down as she landed it perfectly on the right note. "Turn these overflowed tears into power and strength!" sang Lucy, heart as light as a phoenix song. "C'mon, let's go and do what we do best…" she allowed a five-second moment of silence, the music all silent as well.

"Go cast the magic of smiles!"

The song of joy reached the speakers once more as the band rocked their music each in every single way. The tune rose and fell, rose and fell. Finally, Natsu hung on to one last note and stopped it with throwing his pick to the crowd.

There was a stunned silence.

Then, the crowd exploded with such noise Lucy winced and had to fight the urge to hold her ears. It was so loud, the crowd could almost match the loudspeakers. Lucy offered Natsu the microphone, but he shook his head. "It's your show now," he said, grinning.

Lucy blinked, then smiled slightly. "Yeah. Thanks."

She began to shout into the microphone. "Hello, Fairy Tail!" The crowd hollered. "Thank you! Um, I would like to introduce myself? My name is Lucy, and I'm the new lead singer of the band _FairyTail_! I hope that all of you get used to me singing here, 'cause I don't plan to stop!"

"WE'RE ALREADY USED TO IT! YOU SOUND LIKE LISANNA!" one of the people screamed. "YEAH, BUT BETTER!" roared another.

Behind Lucy, Natsu's blood froze into ice, which was not a feeling he experienced often.

Just then, he motioned for Lucy to give him the microphone. "U-uh, and here's our lead guitar, Natsu!" she stammered.

Natsu practically snatched it and shouted. "Thank you all for coming! Have a good night, everyone!"

Lucy frowned. It wasn't like she couldn't say that either…

Later, as the group broke up to walk home, Lucy was a few steps in front of Gray, thinking of something.

"Hey, Gray?" Lucy turned around to look at the male. "Eh?" He replied. "What happened to Lisanna?" she asked him. Gray searched Lucy's eyes. "I'm not much of a storyteller, but Lisanna was a pretty important part of our group. Natsu and Lisanna were the perfect couple, I used to tease them for it," Gray chuckled, holding his cigarette. He chucked his shirt in his bag. Lucy blinked, then screamed slightly. "What are you _doing!_ " she yelped. Gray gave no notice and barreled on. "Well… until the accident," he leaned on the brick wall, puffing out smoke. "What accident?" Lucy asked curiously, deciding to pretend not to look at his chest. "It all happened one day after a concert…"

"Lisanna was walking with her sister, Mirajane. Her brother, Elfman, was drunk. He was driving his truck, and in an attempt to save Mira, Lisanna flew thirty feet… She's in a coma," Gray blew into his cigarette, forming multiple rings. Lucy winced. "You should stop smoking…" Gray shook his head. "Nah, it's fine. Anyway, she's been like this for a whole three years now. Natsu's pretty shaken up about it still… I guess you just remind him of her," He spit the cigarette onto the floor and stepped on it. "Anything else, Lucy?" He looked at her coolly. "Ah, nothing. See you tomorrow!" Lucy smiled and got up. "Bye!" she walked away. Gray nodded to her and jammed his hands into his pockets. "Later."

While walking home, Lucy processed what she just heard.

Natsu had loved Lisanna? Lisanna had loved Natsu?

...And now Lucy reminded Natsu of Lisanna?

* * *

 **And scene!**

 **So, we promise there are going to be A LOT of plot twists in this :3**

 **And Jellal is brought up to this! Hmm, wonder what he did exactly to gain such a shady reputation… but those are questions for later! Have a great night, everyone! Also, this was the last day of school so :3 we have a lot of free time on our hands.**

 **And for next week, sorry if updating becomes slow, as Joanne Park is going somewhere without wifi :(**

 **Thank you for reading! Leave a review!**

 **~HowAboutTeam :]**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello guys!**

 **Yep, another chapter that we have absolutely no idea what it's going to be about. Happy reading! :D**

 _ **Credits: Joanne Park :D, Purrfectly Me :3**_

 **Disclaimer: We don't own Fairy Tail… yet. :)**

* * *

Lucy hummed _Magic Of Smiles_ as she turned the bend to the school.

Classes were easy. Her life was pretty good.

But the whole thing with Lisanna… it still made her uneasy. _You remind me of Lisanna,_ he had said. He had teared up.

 _Was that the strength of their relationship?_

Lucy wouldn't know. Lucy _couldn't_ know. She has never experience actual love in years.

Not since her only true love in her miserable world back then died.

Layla Heartfilia, assigned wife to Jude Heartfilia, mother of Lucy and deceased body still decaying in the depths of the earth. Lucy despised her father.

She despised anything to do with the Heartfilia name now.

Nobody knew about her last name except for her servants back home and of course, her father. Nothing in the world could change her hate for her dad, the one who made her young life into a life of hell.

He would assign her classes, day and night, from the break of dawn to the fading light of twilight. Then she would dress in her nightgown, sleep, and do anything her father says in hope of him showing even the slightest interest in her.

He didn't, not even after fifteen years.

And when she turned sixteen, he breaks the news that he has an assigned marriage to her. Then he tells her that she must have a baby boy, be successful, and allow him to retire peacefully. That was the last straw.

That was the last time he would speak to her. Or ever.

Lucy thought. If Natsu thought she was like Lisanna… if he liked Lisanna that much…

Lucy cringed, then slapped herself. "Snap outta it!" she shouted. A voice behind her said curiously, "Who?"

Lucy jumped and turned, revealing Natsu. "Natsu! Don't scare me like that," she said, heart racing in more reasons than one. Natsu cheekily grinned. "I don't think you minded, to be honest. So how's it going?" he said as he started walking with her to her next class. Lucy forced down a blush. _Don't do this. Don't crush._

But how could she _not?_

Ever since the beginning of the year, she had been in like with Natsu- how he challenged anyone and everyone to fights, his varsity jacket, his grin that drove girls crazy- (Lucy was not one of them- _seriously, get a life._ ) what's _not_ to love?

Love.

She cringed as she slapped herself again. Natsu blinked. "You sure you're okay?" Lucy felt her cheeks flame red. "Y-yeah, just nerves," she said. She tried to act like Natsu, or Gray for that matter- chill, unresponsive, not caring about anything any other way.

Natsu stopped her, in front of Ms. Libra's class. He studied her, for long enough for her to get really uncomfortable. "Uh…" she stammered, sweating droplets.

Natsu came up, grinning wide. "I've got it! I'll teach you how to play guitar."

Lucy blinked. "What?"

Natsu nodded and gave his signature fanged grin. "You heard me, Luce. I'm going to teach you how to play guitar, and you're gonna thank Mavis it's not Erza that's teaching you." Lucy shook her head. "No, no no no no no no. I don't play guitar," she murmured.

Natsu now shook _his_ head and lifted Lucy's chin. She felt like she had just eaten a ball of fire itself. "I _am_ going to teach you. Besides, we need another player." He gazed into Lucy's warm brown orbs. "Come on. Just once?"

Lucy closed and reopened her eyes. "Fine."

Natsu's onyx eyes lit up. "Really?" Lucy gritted her teeth. "I said _fine._ Though I'm probably gonna be crap at it like I always am with everything." Natsu squinted. "I'm no critic, but I'm pretty sure that 'crap' isn't what makes the crowds crazy during prime time." Lucy let out a laugh- and was surprised by it. She hadn't laughed in a long time.

The bell rung, signaling the late students to file in. "Holy crap, I gotta go! See ya, Lucy!" hollered Natsu as he sprinted towards his class.

Lucy stood there, smiling stupidly as Ms. Libra came outside and told her off for being late.

For once, she didn't care.

* * *

Natsu cursed as he landed in the desk in Mr. Taurus's room. "You're late, boy," boomed the bulky gym teacher. Natsu waved a hand. "Yeah, yeah, get on with it," he said lazily.

Gray, who was sitting next to him, winked. "Why were you late?" he scribbled on a piece of paper.

Natsu thought. "Was talking to Lucy," he scribbled back, then pretended to snap back into attention to Mr. Taurus.

Gray smirked as he read his response. "Sucker," he wrote back.

Natsu gritted his teeth. "Shut up," he wrote in big, blocky letters. Gray's smirk only got wider. "You seriously like her, dude?"

Before he could make a withering retort, Mr. Taurus held out a hand. "Note, boy," he boomed- or _mooed_ , as his students said.

Natsu grumbled and handed him the note- or so it looked like it was.

Mr. Taurus glanced at the paper. "Different ways to study for math?" he said incredulously. Natsu shrugged. "Gray here was too stupid to know _what_ studying is," he said, poker-faced.

He slowly slipped the other slip of paper in Gray's palm.

Mr. Taurus crumbled it up and tossed it in the trash can. "As I was saying, boys' basketball teams will be issued this weekend…"

Gray glanced at the note, and his expression was blank shock. "There a problem with me liking her?"

Gray scribbled something on his sheet of paper and tossed it to Natsu, who caught it and opened it quickly. "Nah, it's just that she's way out of your league. Go and get another chick that isn't as hot and maybe I'll spare you the time."

This time, _Natsu_ had the blank shock.

 _Gray likes Lucy…?_

Before he could say anything, Mr. Taurus was standing in front of him, an exasperated expression on his face, big hand out. "Note, boy."

* * *

Lucy stayed into her apartment, changing and eating fruit as she read the latest novel of Kotoba Danraku. "What! Nieve ended up _evil?_ " she said in disbelief. She flipped through the credits, then groaned. "Damn, I hate it when it just _ends_ like that…"

When a new voice said, "Yo."

Lucy screamed and kicked them in the soft spot, causing them to double over and groan. "HOLD UP!" yelled a certain salmon-haired boy as he bent over, holding his legs. Lucy held her book up as if it was a weapon.

Then she lowered her book. "Natsu?" she said incredulously. Natsu was still bent over, but he managed a faint grin and raised a hand. "That's me…"

After Lucy had gotten him cleaned up, Natsu grinned and looked around her place. "Nice digs," he said as he took in all of the furniture. Lucy gave him the stink-eye. "How did you come in?"

Natsu scratched his head. "Through the window."

It took a minute to process what he had just said. "What."

"I said, through the window."

Lucy swung her leg out and socked Natsu in the stomach. "WHY WOULD YOU COME THROUGH MY WINDOW?" she roared. Natsu rubbed his appendix. "Calm down, it was 'cause you wouldn't answer your stupid door," he mumbled.

Lucy blinked. "Oh."

"Yeah."

She testily tapped her foot. "Why are you here?" she demanded, still ruffled from him breaking in. Natsu gave her his adorable fanged grin and unslung his guitar from his back. "To teach you how to play guitar!"

Lucy blinked. "I thought you were kidding." Natsu smiled and shook his head. "Nope," he said casually.

Lucy pursed her lips.

"Fine."

"Great!" Natsu zipped the bag open and took out the guitar that was inside. "Here!" He smiled, handing her a pink guitar with glittery white stars around the bottom. Lucy gasped in surprise. "Wait… Did you buy this for me?" Natsu looked up and smiled.

"Yeah! Like it?"

"Yes, it's just that I'm not sure I'll even use it that much…"

"So? I've got enough money to spare!" He grinned.

Lucy smiled, her heart thumped so loud she was afraid Natsu could hear it. _I'm not crazy. He just bought a guitar for me… That doesn't mean anything! Right?_

"Alright! Let's get started!" Natsu smiled at her, snapping her back to reality. "Y-yeah!" She replied nervously. "So, you hold it like this…" He took her arms and arranged them, one underneath the guitar, and one on the hollow end. "W-why are you touching me!" She blushed. Natsu looked up. "I was putting you in the right position," he said with a derp face. _What's gotten into me?_ Lucy sweated, little beads of water drawing down her back. "Um, are you okay, Luce?" He asked, tilting his head a bit. "I'm fine!" She replied, plastering on a fake smile.

"Ok… I'm going to teach you how to carefully strum the guitar," Natsu sat behind Lucy, back to chest. He closed around her, holding her arms in the same position as his.

"Just carefully whip your wrist back and forth on the strings…" Lucy obeyed, a light sound coming from the hollow guitar. Natsu smiled, "Nice!" He said. _He's too close to my face!_ Lucy thought to herself. She squirmed, uncomfortable.

"H-hey Natsu? It's getting dark, maybe you should go home," she thought of a random excuse. "But it's just four o'clo"- Lucy pushed Natsu out the door. "Bye!" She locked the oak door behind her, Natsu standing outside. "Lucy! Did I do something wrong?!" He shouted. She was nervous, and felt a little guilty. But she ignored Natsu's knocks and sat down next to the guitar.

She shoved her hands into her face and groaned. "What a mess-up…" she mumbled.

Later, Natsu came back.

Lucy reddened. "Already?" she muttered. Natsu cocked his head. "I didn't get to teach you guitar properly, weirdo."

Lucy narrowed her eyes. "Did you just call me _weirdo?_ "

Natsu grinned. "Sure did. Come on, let's practice."

He handed her a sheet of paper. "Those are just starting keys," he explained. He began to point at the different notes. "Not too different from violin. Since you've played strings before, guitar should be easier for you."

Lucy nodded, her throat closing. "All- alright," she stammered.

She held the guitar, a hand on the nut (Side note: we searched it up, and it was actually called the nut -.-), steadying the guitar and one hand resting on the body.

Natsu nodded. "You're doing great so far." Lucy made a face, trying to ignore her rapid heart. "I didn't even play yet."

Natsu made a silly face. "I know, that's why you're doing so good."

"HEY!"

Moments later, Lucy winced as she got a note wrong. "Sorry sorry sorry!" she yelped, hugging her new guitar. Natsu shook his head. "It's your first time, loosen up."

Then he held out a hand. Lucy blinked. "What?"

"Give me the guitar."

Obediently, Lucy handed over the beautiful guitar to Natsu, who held it professionally and strummed. A waterfall of notes filled the air as he sang in his smooth-yet-scratchy voice. "Hey fairy where you going," he sang, low voice soothing Lucy as her sweat dropped the ground. "I'm trying to assemble all this light. I'll shine it down and make tomorrow bright…" His hand, resting on the nut, now pressed down on different strings as he plucked the cords of the new guitar, fresh notes spilling from its vast sea of chords.

"Oh, yeah. Do you hear the voices calling out your name? Oh, yeah. Because I lost my voice while doing the same…"

Lucy stared and listened, mesmerized.

"I'll never quit until I feel your beating heart… oh, yeah. Oh yeah." Natsu kept on singing, low tuned voice contrasting perfectly with the song. Lucy thought. _He doesn't even have sheet music…_

His hand flicked back into the ground, staring at the floor. Lucy's mouth was slightly opened. "What song was that?" she said, voice gentle. Natsu kept staring at the floor. "It was called Snow Fairy… Lisanna's last… last song," he said, voice cracking.

Lucy put a hand on his shoulder. "I know about Lisanna," she said softly. His shoulders started to shake.

Lucy kept talking. "If I remind you of her, that's good. It gives you another chance to enjoy being you. If you don't embrace what you already have…" she trailed off. Lucy started to think of all of her servants and friends back in the Heartfilia estate. "You'll end up loveless…"

Natsu hastily wiped his eyes and handed the guitar back to Lucy. "Try again," he said, voice strained with a thin-lipped smile to match. Lucy nodded, then tried to strum. The end result was something that sounded accurate to a rooster's call.

Natsu burst out laughing, then adjusted Lucy's hands. "Again," he said, now smiling for real.

Lucy grinned.

 _It was worth leaving her wretched father forever._

* * *

 **Boiii we finished another chapter?**

 **Sorry, this was mostly a filler chapter cause we didn't really know what to do :P But Gray likes Lucy? (Btw this** _ **is**_ **a Nalu fic if you are wondering :P)**

 **See you all next chapter! Leave a review!**

 **Peace from Magnolia,**

 **~HowAboutTeam :]**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hehe hi guys!**

 **Let's just get on with this (filler chapter warning)**

 _ **Credits: Joanne Park :D, Purrfectly Me :3**_

 **Disclaimer: We don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

After three weeks of training, aching hands, and whacking guitars, Lucy finally got it right.

She could now play with ease almost as well as Erza did… though she could never match Natsu's skill. The glittery pink guitar became her prized possession, Lucy never leaving it anywhere except her own two hands.

At practice, Lucy tried to play some of the notes and got a few wrong. "You'll be playing backup, so it's okay to make mistakes," assured Erza, who had her own guitar. She frowned at Lucy's own.

She blinked. "What's wrong?" Erza shook her head. "No, that guitar won't do. It might be good for other songs, but with that one… no. There's no way anyone would be able to hear that." Lucy's shoulders slumped. "You're right…"

Erza considered her for a moment, then headed out the door. "Follow me," she called over her shoulder.

Curious, Lucy left the stage to follow Erza into the storage room.

She stepped in and gasped.

It was a room full of different guitars, picks, and even the parts of guitars. Lucy gazed around. "This is yours?" Her voice cracked.

Erza nodded, hand on Lucy's acoustic guitar. "And we'll be giving you one of these." Lucy's eyes flared with alarm as she backed away. "No, no no no no. Erza, this much have cost _millions-_ "

Erza cut in. "You will take one. No questions asked." Her eyes turned as dark as coal. Lucy gulped. "Aye."

Moments later, Lucy stood awkwardly as she tuned her new guitar, shiny pink with white and yellow stars. It wasn't much different to her other one. Except this one was an electric one.

Natsu whistled. "There's a beauty coming through."

Immediately, Lucy's cheeks flamed; was he talking about her or the guitar? _Aaaargh I think things too far._

Lucy tried strumming the guitar and winced at the feedback. Natsu scratched his head. "Why can't she just sing like usual?" he said. Gray was practicing his drumming, pounding and slamming his sticks on the drums as he kept the beat going. "GRAY!" yelled Erza. Gray stopped.

Wendy went up to Natsu. "This song needs a male singer, and Gray is drumming. There's no way he could sing too," she said kindly. Natsu grumbled. "I can't sing…"

Lucy bumped his shoulder. "Like hell you can. You're amazing at singing! I, on the other hand, can't even tune this guitar right…"

Natsu took the guitar from her. "Tune it from A to B, D to E flat," he explained as he tuned the guitar. Lucy nodded.

Gray counted. "One, two. One, two, three!" He hit the drums, in a 'one, two, three, four' beat. Then when the beat changed, Wendy changed the piano tune in record time and the viola began to play as she swerved her fingers up and down.

Erza was for once lead, but she stayed still, as the lead guitar didn't play until the actual singing was involved. Natsu did likewise, standing awkwardly.

But Lucy kept on track, plucking the strings in time with Wendy, who kept her finger dance recital going. And when Gray finally pounded the drums one last time to cue the lyrics to be sung…

Natsu stood there, looking blank and confused.

The music ceased as Lucy frowned at Natsu. "Come on!" she hissed. Natsu blinked. "Sorry, what?"

Erza had a vein in her forehead. "Natsu! Did you even _memorize_ the lyrics?" she growled. Natsu tried to look dumb. "What lyrics?"

Gray marched up to him, and slapped him. "WAKE UP, YA STUPID ASH FACE!" he yelled. Natsu jumped up and yelled right back. "WHAT DID YOU SAY, SNOW FACE?"

"I JUST SAID THE SAME INSULT YOU JUST COPIED, IDIOT!"

"YOU'RE THE IDIOT!"

"FLAME BRAINS!"

"ICE BRAINS!"

"FIRE QUEEN!"

"ICE PRINCESS!"

Immediately, a hand slammed in between them and shoved them both to the ground. "IF YOU DON'T WANT A HUNDRED PUSH-UPS RIGHT HERE, APOLOGIZE TO EACH OTHER!" ordered Erza.

Lucy gaped.

Natsu and Gray were _hugging._

"No problem, Erza! I sincerely apologize to Natsu for being a jerk and a-" Erza glared at him, and Lucy could swear she saw his blood freeze. "What?"

"I sincerely apologize to Natsu for raising a perfectly good point," squeaked out Gray, shirt on the floor. Erza turned to Natsu. "And you?"

"I-am-sorry-for-Gray-being-a-stupid-stripper-and-I-promise-I-will-never-tell-him-that-again," said Natsu quickly. Erza nodded. "Good." Lucy's jaw was on the floor.

Then a silvery voice said, "Is this _Gratsu_ I see?"

Natsu and Gray both jumped out of their shoes as a stunning girl flounced up to them, smiling wide. "Ahh! It is!" she squealed.

Lucy was lost. "Gratsu- Gra- tsu… oh…" Lucy smacked her forehead. "She made up a ship for Natsu and Gray?!" she yelped. Wendy nodded, cheeks slightly red. "It's a little strange."

Erza smiled as she came down the stage. "Hello, Mira," she said grandly. Mira bowed her head and went up to Lucy. "You're new here, correct?" she said. Lucy winced. "I actually came about a month ago…"

Mira put her hands to her mouth. "I'm so sorry! But I was gone for a month so…" Her voice trailed off. Lucy nodded, and smiled. "Nice to meet you! I'm Lucy," she introduced. Mira's eyes shifted from Lucy to everyone else in the band.

Then she let out a small scream. Lucy blinked. "What?" Mira pointed at her and Gray. "You two! Would look so cute together!" she squealed.

Lucy blinked.

Gray blinked.

Erza blinked.

Natsu blinked.

Wendy giggled.

"WHAT?" squawked Lucy and Gray together, and Natsu just cried out, "That's just some crap!"

Mira frowned. "No?"

Wendy sized the two up. "I mean, yeah, they would look good together," she offered. Mira's eyes lit up. "Right?!"

Lucy shook her head, cheeks as pink as Natsu's hair. "No, no, no, no, no. No way." Gray was sputtering like crazy. "She- and me- can't think-" he stammered.

Mira giggled. "I'm kidding, everyone knows that Natsu and Lucy would be the one true pairing. But what to call you…" She tapped a finger to her chin. Then her eyes lit up. "Nalu!"

Natsu made a half-choking, half coughing sound as Lucy cleared her throat awkwardly. Mira giggled. "Good luck with the performance, you two!"

Then she left.

Gray blinked. "That was awkward."

"Very," agreed Lucy. She plucked her guitar strings. "Now are we gonna practice, or what?"

* * *

Lucy was nervous as she stepped into the light.

She'd done this many times before. But she didn't usually have a shining electric guitar with her. People shouted from the crowd, confused. She took the microphone.

"Hello, Magnolia!" He voice echoed. She was stunned to see it wasn't trembling. "This number is to the celebration of Thanksgiving coming through! Have a great autumn, everyone!"

Behind her, Gray shot her a thumbs up, then clicked his drumsticks together. _One two three four. One two three four._ _One two three, one two three four._

In a flash, Wendy ran a hand up the keyboard that was set to autotuned violin. Then her other hand crashed on the right note as she played a waterfall of notes that cascaded down the thumping, voluminous beat.

Erza did nothing, tapping her foot to the combined magic of Wendy and Gray. As for Lucy…

Her hand trailed up and down the guitar as she changed the tune from low to high, high to low. Her gleaming white pick blinded even the disco ball, grin flashing across every man in the crowd.

Together, the three of them played until Wendy buzzed in three notes in the same time.

Immediately, Natsu appeared.

The crowd laughed and pointed as Natsu pranced down the stage, looking ridiculous and hilarious with his trusty scarf around his waist like a belt, reddish-violet leather jacket nearly half-ripped from the tightness, and his usual baggy pants becoming studded white collections that even Elvis would be jealous of. Natsu grinned goofily as he waved a hand to the girls in the crowd, who immediately cracked up and fainted.

Then he began to sing, voice smooth and scratchy and just… perfect.

"I know it's too late to be worrying, 'bout yesterday," sang Natsu, red and black microphone tucked in his hand. Lucy flicked her wrist like Natsu had told her to do, and a sound ricocheted down the speakers and through the ears of cheering fans.

Natsu kept going, mimicking Lucy's usual walk up and down the stage. "If you would leave yourself to the tune in the air, you'll see that you'll feel much lighter," shouted Natsu as the crowd went insane for more. A loud _bang_ issued from Gray's cymbals and Wendy let loose a load of stringing notes that fell perfectly on top of one another. Natsu pulled off his leather jacket, and threw it into the crowd. Immediately, they went wild, screaming, shouting for more.

"Even now, it seems it could be true, that the fact that you can't fly is void?" Natsu sang into the microphone as he flashed a wave to those down below.

Lucy smiled.

Everything was going great.

* * *

 **Thank chu all so much for reading this ;W;**

 **Leave a review!**

 **Peace from Magnolia,**

 **~HowAboutTeam :]**


	6. Chapter 6

**Heyy guys!**

 **Hehe Loke's gonna be added in today ^^**

 _ **Credits: Purr-chan :3, Joan-nee :)**_

 **Disclaimer: We don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

"Woo, great night guys!" said Natsu as they all headed backstage. Lucy giggled as he peeled off some of the rhinestones on his collections.

Gray lounged on one of the couches, taking out a cigarette. "Eh, Flame Brains didn't do so bad," he said lazily. Wendy smiled wide. "I think that was awesome, Natsu!" Natsu's cheeks reddened slightly. "Eh, Lucy could've done a lot better."

Erza came out of the curtain, microphone in her hand and a big smile on her face. "In honor of our performances, Mira offered us a free meal!" she announced. Natsu scrambled up, a hungry look on his face. "Meal?"

Gray grinned and got up, cigarette clouding his appearance. "I won't say no to food," he said. Wendy nodded, eyes shining bright. Lucy smiled.

Moments later, Lucy was sitting at a wooden bench, very close to Natsu.

He was _still_ ordering. "...yes, and a Hot Teriyaki, and the spicy meal?" he requested as Mira didn't even bother to scribble it all down. "So your usual?" she quipped. Lucy's jaw was on the floor. "That's his _usual?_ "

Gray chuckled and smothered his burning cigar. "Oh, yeah. Usually, he orders more." Wendy nodded, a sheepish look taking her face. "That's Natsu."

Lucy stammered when Mira asked her; she didn't ever order here before. Natsu cut in. "She'll have some of mine," he offered. Mira winked at the two. "That's adorable. Coming right up!"

Erza ordered a strawberry cake, whereas Wendy ordered a small cup of noodles. And finally, Gray ordered an ice-cold drink.

Mira nodded and left the table.

Lucy sighed and leaned backwards into Natsu's warm arm. A faint blush played at her cheeks, but she didn't mind as Natsu's arm didn't retract.

Suddenly, a suave voice cut in. "And who is this?"

Lucy startled and Natsu retracted his arm. "Loke," said Erza witheringly.

An orange-haired teen winked at Lucy, a hand behind his head, and the other snaking towards Lucy's shoulder. "Hello, beautiful. You new here? 'Cause I've never seen any other girl that has blinded me with beauty such as yours." His azure-tinted glasses flashed as a hint of hazel was shown beneath them.

Lucy hated him immediately.

She slapped his hand away. "And I've never seen anyone who's as touchy-feely as you, Mr. Beautiful. Hands _off._ " Behind her, Gray whistled.

The young man shook his head and smiled. "Don't ignore the sense, my dear, we are _meant_ to be together." He wrapped an arm around her waist, giving her the chills. "Your stunning beauty and my handsome charm is the very _definition_ of a couple."

Mira appeared right behind them and winked. "Is this a new couple I'm seeing? Hmm… Loke and Lucy…"

Lucy started to sputter as Loke stretched and casually snaked an arm around Lucy again. "Yep, our love is indestructible," he said smoothly.

Mira's eyes lit up. "LoLu!"

Everyone's reactions were different- Natsu choked, Gray started to snicker, Erza allowed a small chuckle, Wendy cooed under her breath, "That's so cute!" and Lucy closed her eyes, allowing a small puff of breath.

"Lo… Lu?" she said weakly. Loke nodded approvingly. "This just proves that you and I were meant to be together."

Mira served them all their food. "Erza," she said as she slid over strawberry cake, "Gray," a freezing-cold alcohol, "Wendy," a noodle bowl steamed as it was passed across the table.

Lucy frowned. "Where's Natsu's food?" Gray snickered. "That idiot eats so much Mira has to get a second tray." Natsu glared at him. "Shut up, Popsicle."

Before Gray could make a comeback, Erza whacked both boys with a surprisingly hard slap. "Stop it this instant!" she boomed.

"Aye."

Loke smiled silkily as he lowered his tinted glasses a bit. "You and I won't have this barbaric relationship like these two, Lucy," he purred.

Overhearing, Natsu and Gray choked as Lucy groaned. " _Relationship?"_ spluttered out Gray.

And on cue, Mira appearing, a blinding smile on her lips. "LoLu and Gratsu! My ships becoming canon!" she cooed.

Erza cocked her head sideways, blood-red hair falling over her shoulder. "What an interesting choice of couples," she interceded.

Natsu, Gray, and Lucy all screamed, "WE'RE NOT COUPLES!"

Only Loke winked at Erza and nodded, "LoLu has forever been interesting, and it will always be as long as my Lucy stays bright and shining as the sun," he declared.

Then he caught sight of a lovely woman with flowing brown hair.

He put a hand over his heart. "My heart has been taken!" he announced dramatically before chasing after her.

Wendy blinked.

"That was weird," commented Gray as Natsu began to unload his plates from Mira's double tray. "No kidding," muttered Lucy.

Mira smiled brightly, "No, it's just young love. Besides, I told you, NaLu is the ultimate ship!"

And Lucy and Natsu choked on their spit for the fifth time that night.

Lucy got up and began shooing Mira away, "Thanks Mira! Uhm, we'll ask you for something later!" she called as Mira flounced away to another table.

She sighed as she sat back down. "That was…" commented Wendy as she slurped her noodles. "Strange, much?" said Gray, sucking on his straw.

Natsu rubbed his hands. "Who cares? I'm about to dig in!"

Erza stopped him before he ate. "Natsu, you have to share with Lucy, remember?"

He blinked, then smiled. "Oh yeah!"

He slid over a steaming plate of chicken. "Red-hot chicken wings with a side of Tabasco," he said proudly.

Lucy stared at the bright red chicken. "It looks really spicy." Natsu shrugged. "Not to me, that's _mild_ compared to what I eat usually."

Lucy hesitantly took a bite out of it.

Her mouth was on fire.

"HOT! HOT! HOT!" she hollered as she waved a hand up and down, fanning her steaming mouth. "Oh geez, I forgot that a lot of people can't take this dish…" said Natsu, embarrassed.

Gray was sitting up, alarmed. "Take this!" He pushed over his glass of cold alcohol.

Lucy downed it, then sat back down, falling straight into Natsu's tanned arm. He reddened slightly.

She glared at him. "You _forgot_ that people can't take this!" she yelled. Natsu probably tried to smile, but what came out was a grimace. "Y-yeah?" he mumbled.

Before Lucy could get to him, Mira appeared right behind them and squealed, "NaLu!"

Everyone groaned.

* * *

 **Hey guys!**

 **Sorry this chapter was a little bit on the short side, but heh, we got it done, right? Joan-nee had to go to her camp the past week so we didn't have a lot of things done, but here's a promise- the grand magic games are right around the corner!**

 **Peace from Magnolia,**

 **~HowAboutTeam :]**


	7. Chapter 7

**Heyyy guys!**

 **Thanks for all those views, we just hit 200! Ahh!**

 **And here's a special chapter for all you awesome people! Enjoy!**

 _ **Credits: Joan-nee :D, Purr-chan :3**_

 **Disclaimer: We don't own anything.**

* * *

They messed up _again._

"No, no, no, no, no!" Natsu stood at front, hand clenched around his mic. "Just _listen_ to me!"

Gray, and Wendy stood awkwardly. "Lucy and Erza's gone because she went to this annual writing thing, and now we're back on square one!" he yelled, pointing an accusing finger to the trio. "We _need_ to be able to play perfectly for the performance at Edolas Anima!"

Gray _tch_ 'ed. "It's not helping that you're just yelling at us that we suck, Natsu." There was a vein ticking in Natsu's forehead. "So what!"

Wendy stepped in front, placing a small hand on Natsu's shoulder. "Gray's right, Natsu. You have to calm down." Natsu took a deep breath.

He raised his flaming red guitar. "One, two, three!" he shouted, then hit the reverb button on his guitar as he swept a hand up and down its coiling strings. Wendy had the tune set to bass flute as she played a string of chords that fell on top of one another as Gray slammed a hand down to his drumset.

Then one of Gray's drumsticks went flying to hit Natsu's head.

Natsu leapt up, guitar crashing to the floor. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" he roared. Gray gave him the stink-eye. "Nothing. You on your period?"

Wendy winced as Natsu reddened slightly and bellowed, "I'M A BOY, IDIOT!" Gray glared straight back into Natsu's eyes. "Yeah, you are. And I'm a man, whereas you're the idiot."

Natsu marched up to Gray and slammed his hand so hard on his drumset, it shook. "Listen up, Icy Pants."

And a second later, Gray's shirt was on the floor.

"PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!"

* * *

 **The next day, at Natsu's house, they were taking a break from practicing as Natsu started to pour out steaming hot water from the pan, when…**

"AAARGH!"

Gray held up his hand, blistered and burned from the water spill. "WHAT'S YOUR DEAL?" he bellowed. Natsu roared right back. "MY DEAL IS THAT YOU WEREN'T WATCHING CAREFULLY!"

Wendy rushed up to Gray, bandages in hand. "Just stay still," she cautioned, gently rubbing healing paste on the swells. Gray winced as she wrapped the bandages around his fingers. "It's not even a serious burn," mumbled Natsu. Wendy gave Natsu a mild glare as she finished wrapping Gray's fingers. "Natsu, this is a really serious burn! Apologize!"

Wendy didn't get angry often, but when she did, you had to do what she said. "Sorry," grumbled Natsu.

Gray leaned against the wall, barely moving his fingers. "I can't play drums," he grunted. Wendy put her hands on her mouth. "Oh no!"

Natsu yelped. "How are we supposed to get another drummer in time?"

Gray growled. "This is all _your_ fault, Pyro!" Natsu glowered. "It's not my fault you're clumsy, Mr. I-Never-Do-Anything-Wrong!"

Wendy yelled, "Stop arguing!"

And then it spiraled all over again.

 **XXXXXX**

At band practice, Natsu slammed his head on his guitar, Wendy right next to him. "How are we able to play with a two-man band?" he moaned.

Wendy frowned. "Well, I asked Mira if there's any replacements, and she did mention this one guy that's coming over today…" Natsu groaned into his hands, "As long as he's a drummer, we're good."

"Oi."

A rugged voice cut through the moody air of the stage, belonging to a burly guy with iron piercings all over.

Natsu tensed. This guy looked like trouble.

He strode up to the two. "You two the guys who need my help?" he grunted. Natsu glared at him. "Yeah. You a drummer?"

He bellowed out a laugh. "I can play a lot of things. Rock guitar, key, drums, viola…" "Viola?" echoed Natsu.

The guy squinted. "Do I know you from somewhere, Salamander?" Natsu _tch_ 'ed. "Probably. You go to Magnolia High?" He scratched his head. "Nah, I'm gonna transfer there next year."

Natsu fought to keep a straight face. "Then how'd you know my nickname was Salamander?"

The guy snorted. "'Cause you look like one."

Silence awaited the three.

Then Natsu roared, "WHAAAT?"

The dude shrugged. "Take it or leave it. I'm a heartbeat away from walking out this door."

Wendy stepped in front of the two. "Wait, we do need you. Can you play the drums for us? Please?" she pleaded.

The guy smirked. "Since you need my help so much, I'll cooperate. Name's Gajeel."

Natsu lowered his eyes, trying to keep control. "Fair enough. Natsu Dragneel." Gajeel snorted. "Even your last name makes you sound like a salamander."

Wendy smiled. "My name is Wendy, it's nice to meet you!"

Gajeel unzipped his backpack. "For starters, I have music." Natsu frowned. "Nah, we already got music good enough."

Wendy took a look at the sheet music, comparing the two. Then her eyes brightened.

She snapped her fingers. "Let's combine the two!"

Natsu and Gajeel blinked.

" _Combine?_ "

Wendy muttered to herself as she crossed out notes and transferred them to another sheet of paper, mixing the two sheets of note music.

Natsu warily studied Gajeel. "What kind of music do you like?" he found himself asking. Gajeel looked up. "Punk and jazz." Natsu snorted. "Seriously?"

Wendy finished. "Done!" she said happily, then handed the sheets of paper to Natsu and Gajeel.

Gajeel squinted. "Why's it so cheerful…" Natsu pumped a hand in the air. "I'm all fired up now!"

Then he glanced at the clock and startled.

"CRAP! WE GOTTA GO NOW!" he screamed. Wendy and Gajeel looked at him, confused.

He pointed a shaking finger to the clock. "WE'RE ON AT THREE!" The clock read 2:30.

Slowly realizing it…

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, LET'S GO!" roared Gajeel as he grabbed Natsu and Wendy, other hand clenched on Wendy's foldable keyboard and Natsu's flaming red guitar.

Then he threw them into his truck and started to drive fast to the Edolas Anima Hospital.

* * *

Nervous, Natsu took the spotlight.

The crowd was filled with people in wheelchairs, doctors, and a dude that looked like the hospital mascot, a metal-clad dragon.

Natsu didn't like this place- Lisanna was here.

Lisanna.

He shook his head, trying not to let the memories consume him as the crowd patiently waited for their music.

 _ **A Side Note: This one is Three Dragon Slayers.**_

Behind him, Gajeel clicked his metal-coated drumsticks, one two three times.

He slammed his sticks down on the drums so hard they almost snapped in half. Next to him, Wendy's little fingers danced as she hit key after key, a booming sound ricocheting across the floor.

But Natsu was probably the most impressive.

His guitar vibrated the floor as he ran a hand down the strings of his famous red guitar, the music sounding as if it was made of flames themselves.

Wendy slammed her petite hand on her keyboard as the other tuned the sound, sometimes viola, violin, and bass flute. Gajeel backed it all up with a steady beat and a rugged feel, and Natsu plucked string after string, each note vibrating and rocking the entire stage and crowd to the beat. Hollering, the crowd stomped their feet and clapped their hands to the amazing and yet rugged beat.

Natsu was grinning the whole time. _We didn't even practice,_ he thought. _But we still rocked it._

In the crowd shone Lucy, Erza, and Gray's blinding smiles, Gray's hand wrapped in a cast. Natsu shouted, "You guys back?"

Lucy shouted something back, but it was indistinguishable with the amount of noise in the entire hospital itself.

Natsu could almost let go of the past then, him whipping a hand back and forth on his rocking red guitar with his buddies.

But somewhere, inside of Edolas Anima Hospital…

A loud beeping sound echoed through a hollow room. A hand twitched.

And a pair of blue eyes opened.

* * *

 **AHH THE SUSPENSEEE**

 **Sorry guys for the cliffie but as we were writing this, we hit 300 -GASP- but who is it? :0**

 **Leave a review and thanks for reading!**

 **Peace from Magnolia,**

 **~HowAboutTeam :]**


	8. Chapter 8

**Heyyy guys!**

 **Hehehe we left a cliffie last chapter :3**

 **Well, let's get it on, shall we?**

 _ **Credits: Purr-chan :3, Joan-nee :D**_

 **Disclaimer: We don't own anything.**

* * *

 _ **Side Note: This is a first-person point of view. Please do not be confused.**_

When I woke up, my first impression was:

Bright.

Blinding white lights shone in my eyes, so bright I couldn't see anything past them.

I could barely move. My system felt like I had been drugged, or… or…

I gasped.

Squinting, I tried to look past the blinding lights and saw life-support equipment everywhere. My hands…

I tried to lift my shaking fingers. They were covered in needles, injecting different substances so that I could stay… stay alive.

I heard music in the hall. I could hear, even with my system confused, drugged, or any worse things they had done to me.

Rock guitar could be heard through the hall. Clanging drums vibrated my feet.

My eyes opened.

This was Natsu's music.

* * *

Natsu smiled as he finished the amazing song with a ricocheting sound from the reverb button on his guitar. "Thank you all for listening!" he shouted into the microphone.

The crowd, clad in blue scrubs and hospital pajamas, cheered. Natsu kept talking. "My first time here was an accident, but not for me. My… my best friend, Lisanna Strauss… she was hit by a car and has been in a coma ever since." A tear threatened to unfurl from his sharp dark green eye. "This is to give a sign of hope and light to all your sick people out there, and again… thank you for listening!"

He stepped off the stage, the crowd loosening and revealing Lucy, Erza, and Gray.

Natsu ran up to Lucy and hugged her, then knocked fists with Erza. He simply glared at Gray, who obliged and glared right back.

"That was amazing!" squealed Lucy. Erza nodded and smiled. "So I've heard. Natsu, care to explain what happened to Gray's hand?"

Natsu started to sweat. "Uh, uhm… not what you think?" he stammered. Erza's eyes flashed with a message saying, _We'll talk later._

Suddenly, a man in a scrub sprinted down to the nurse's section, out of breath. Natsu overheard them.

"She's awake… coma… three years… muttering about music…!" was all he caught.

He froze.

 _Lisanna._

Immediately, he broke off in a run, ignoring his friends' calls to come back. With no choice, they followed him.

He sprinted into the room that he hated and dreaded to go for three straight years. Room 301, he skidded and pounded the locked door. "LET ME IN!" he bellowed, tears threatening to spill. "COME ON, THAT'S MY BEST FRIEND IN THERE!"

Behind him, Lucy's face was more than crestfallen.

Natsu kept pounding the door. "COME ON- Damn this!" he said loudly, jamming the door lock. "LET US IN!"

The door opened. "Cut it out, kid-" started a blonde nurse, striking a big resemblance to Lucy.

Natsu ignored her and pushed away the doctor that tried to hold him back.

And there she was. A girl with silver shoulder-length hair, staring at the ceiling like a frozen sleeping beauty.

For a moment, time and space fell away. Suddenly, Natsu felt as if the pain was raw again, as if he had just gotten the news that Lisanna was as good as dead.

But there she was.

Sitting, and smiling like nothing had ever happened.

"L-Lisanna…"

She turned to look at him, her sparkling blue eyes, filling up with glimmering tears. "Natsu…?"

He heard his name, every syllable said with delicate focus.

Like she knew they would meet again. Like she knew that her smile would light up his world once more.

Like he was all that mattered to her.

He barely heard Lucy gasp, barely heard Gray and Erza suck in a breath. Didn't even register the pair of hands that roughly pushed him back.

He choked out a laugh. "Y-you had me worried, s-stupid…"

Lisanna smiled brightly.

 _There's her smile._

"I promised I would be right next to you. Remember?" she said finally.

Natsu felt like ice-cold water had doused him. _She talked._

It was the same silvery voice that matched her hair, it was the same vocals that drove the crowds crazy…

It was the same tune that sang life into Natsu's system.

Lisanna's wide grin only got wider. "So I think that you should take back the stupid comment, Natsu."

Unable to bear it anymore, he ripped himself out of the doctor's arms and leapt towards Lisanna, smothering her into a hug.

He didn't hear the pair of footsteps that left the room.

* * *

Lucy had just quietly exited the room.

She hadn't been close to the others for long. Heck, she didn't even _know_ about Lisanna until Gray had told her.

But watching the scene unfold was just too painful. It reminded her of her mother, and her impossible dreams to revive her.

But then, as she left, she saw Natsu fling himself into Lisanna's arms, like a petal to a wind.

So dripping tears, she broke off into a run as she sprinted into the dark halls and out of sight.

She was now sitting in her car.

It wasn't fancy- just a plain white convertible. It was her pride and joy.

Lucy sniffled and wiped away a few stray tears. She'd have to stop this soon.

Wavering, she turned on some music.

Soft, familiar notes floated in the dark air. She smiled tearfully. It was the first song she'd ever written.

" _Words are born into-o air, and quickly fade out in the wind,"_ sang her mother. "But they find their way insi-ide you… where they live on forever-ermore…" sang Lucy along with the old track.

" _When the skies are dark a-and full of rain, look insi-i-ide-"_ sang the track, her mother's sweet voice filling the air. "Your hea-art," rasped Lucy, smiling as she pictured her mother right next to her, smiling back at her likeness.

" _The light… will open up to you, shining just liiiike the suuuun…_ "

Lucy was crying rivers now, letting all of her sadness spill out like a flowing river. "...first heard those words," she whispered with the tune.

No words matched this song now- it was just her mother humming to her. Lucy hummed along, smiling and wiping her tears away.

No more tears came out.

* * *

"So what happened?" asked Lisanna to her old gang.

She gaped around. "And what day is this? Years haven't gone by, right? It's just that you guys look so much _older…_ " her voice trailed off.

Wendy swallowed like something bad went down her throat.

Erza took her hand. "Actually… it's been three years, Lisanna."

Lisanna gaped at the rest of them. " _Three years?!"_

Natsu nodded, blinking fast. "Yeah. After that accident, the doctors told us that you were as good as dead, with that coma." Lisanna frowned. "But I'm still… still here."

Gray was lounging on a chair. "Like hell you are, we all knew you'd pull through," he said, smiling. Lisanna shook her head. "But _three years._ I can't imagine how-" Her eyes widened. "Mira! Elfman! How are they!" she gasped, looking around.

Erza smirked. "Actually, Mira's a close friend of ours. Elfman's fine as well." Lisanna knit her brows. "'Ours'?" she questioned.

"Erza and Mira have gotten real chummy these past years," deadpanned Natsu. "I'm glad they're ok," Lisanna said with a smile.

"By the way, I must've had a substitute for the band, right?" She said, cocking her head.

Natsu blinked. "Where's Lucy?"

Gray rolled his eyes. "Don't you remember, bastard? She ran out a few minutes ago. Looked pretty sad," Gray raised a brow.

"Lisanna, I uh… I"- "Go look for her," she said, with a humble smile. He smiled then ran off.

"That little prick…" Gray muttered under his breath.

"I think Natsu likes Lucy!" Wendy exclaimed, just realizing. Gray and Erza shot her a look. "You just noticed that?"

* * *

"Lucy!" Natsu shouted. _What if she got kidnapped? Or is it womannapped? Whatever!_ He started to worry, searching alleys, behind the hospital, when It started to rain.

"Crap," he said, disgusted. He heard wet footsteps in the alley behind him.

"Hey! Who's there? Lucy?" He shouted, a bit frightened.

A silhouette of a woman wearing a dress and holding a parasol appeared through the gloomy darkness.

Natsu held his ground, fists up.

A voice pierced the thick air.

"Drip, drip, drop…"

* * *

 **I don't know why I feel so excited! I'm pretty sure it's obvious who the woman is, but whatever! :P ← Purrfectly Me**

 **Heh, Purr-chan did the creepy-yet-suspenseful ending this time… Arrgh ← Joan-nee**

 **This chapter might not be as long, but it took a lot of good thinking, and we got really sidetracked with Layla Heartfilia. Anyway, we hope to see you next time!**

 **Peace from Magnolia,**

 **~HowAboutTeam :]**


	9. Chapter 9

HEYY GUYS GUESS WHO'S ALIVE?

DAMN RIGHT, HOWABOUTTEAM IS BACK INTO BUSINESS -slams fist into the air-

All right, sorry for the delay, we just got really… uh… distracted with school and stuff. (FOR THREE MONTHS ~ Not-su) Yeah.

Anyway, getting onto the real stuff:

Who could be the 'mysterious' person with the parasol in the dark night? Where is Lucy? Is Lisanna going to come back to the gang? Let's find out :D

Credits: Joan-nee -_-, Purr-chan :3

Disclaimer: We don't own anything.

* * *

"Drip, drip, drop."

Natsu froze in place of those strangely eerily creepy words. A woman in a blue dress and a winter trench coat was standing in front of him, holding a cute blue parasol behind her back.

Natsu stepped back. "Where's Lucy!" he barked, trying to hide his shaking hands.

The woman blinked. "Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia?"

Natsu wore a confused look. "Heartfilia?" The woman had a serene and dazed look in her eyes. "Yes. Lucy Heartfilia has been summoned to meet her father." Natsu began to tense. "Her father?"

She nodded and fingered her parasol. "At this moment, my comrades are taking her to the Heartfilia estate." Natsu wasn't sure if he heard correctly. "Estate…?"

"I am Juvia. Juvia is part of the Element Four, the elite squad that the agency Juvia works for has issued-"

Natsu cut in. "You mind telling me where she is?"

Juvia had a strange glow to her dark blue eyes. "She is going to the Heartfilia Estate, as Juvia has said. You need not worry, she will not be harmed."

Natsu didn't trust her. Then he heard-

"...if she is good to them."

His face morphed into a snarl. "What did you do to her?"

Then he spotted Lucy's sleek white car.

Usually shiny and gleaming white, her car's insides were torn, seat belt ripped, and…

Shaking, Natsu ran over to her car and fingered the broken glass window. Then his shivering hand glanced upon the broken CD disk… and a CD inside of it.

It was cracked.

Throwing it back inside the car, he marched up to Juvia. "Tell me where it is. Or I might just make you tell me the hard way." He grabbed her front and steadied a fist.

"Now, now, now, what iz going 'ere?"

A thin man with puke-colored green hair appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. His spider-like finger touched the hideous-colored monocle perched on his right eye. "My dear Miss Juvia, what 'ave been you has been doing? We are all part of teh Element Four, no?" He had a thick accent, like he was trying to place a French accent but couldn't quite get it.

Natsu advanced, hands balled up. "Tell me where she is."

To his surprise and horror, the man brought out a thin, long, strange-looking...

Knife.

Juvia gave a little cold smile. "Juvia suggests that you don't mess with us." She took out a wet rag. "Psh. I'm supposed to be scared of a rag?" scoffed Natsu.

Juvia's cold and surreal eyes darkened. "Do not underestimate the use of water. One smell from this, and you will be toppling down in the heavy rain, to wake up months, maybe years later." Natsu tensed.

The thin man cackled. "Do you see how 'opeless it iz now? If you don't want us to slaughter you right now, you will leave and neavar mention this to anybody." His monocle flashed. "I am Sol, by teah way."

Natsu's own onyx eyes flashed. "Then there's gonna be a problem, cuz I'm not leaving without her."

And with a surprise roar, he charged and sprinted towards the enemy.

* * *

Lucy had no idea what was going on.

Scratch that, she knew exactly what was going on.

She just didn't know how she got like this.

Sitting in the backseat of a smelly car- no, truck- was definitely not on her bucket list. Lucy bit back a groan. Better to stay quiet and know her surroundings first.

Definitely two people in the car, one right next to her, one obviously driving. The back of the vehicle was bouncing up and down, giving Lucy a good taste of Natsu's motion sickness. Now, what could she remember?

Hospital. Music. Lisanna. Natsu…

She groaned internally. How could she have been such a petty person that she left Natsu's comfort just because of a hug? And a hug from a friend that they all thought to be dead, no less. I'm so stupid, she thought. It was Lisanna. Gray said that she was Natsu's closest friend- I couldn't have been more idiotic.

It was ironic, really. How she was kidnapped while listening to some good music, not even the slightest bit worried as she was suddenly knocked out by a sudden stench. She winced as the scratchy cloth itched her neck. They couldn't have been more careful? 

But she was thankful that she was able to wake up as early as she was. That scent of sleeping poison was so strong, it could've knocked Lucy out for days, or even months. The fact that she'd woken up mere hours later was a stroke of luck.

Had it been hours? Lucy couldn't tell anymore. She didn't have a watch, and her phone and wallet were taken from her when she was kidnapped. Idiot.

How she wished she could hum a song to calm her down. Her mind quickly racked for reasons why these strange people would want to kidnap her. Her music skill? Not likely. Her keys? Maybe. They were precious artifacts, after all. Pure gold and centuries' worth of luck weaved into them.

But no, if they wanted her keys they could have just taken them from her, right from the start. So why were they…

It's nice to meet you, Lucy Heartfilia. A vague memory of a blue-haired woman rose to the surface.

Lucy muffled a stifled scream.

She was a Heartfilia.

These people wanted her because they had somehow found out that she had been a Heartfilia. But how? She was careful to never mention her last name around anybody, unless it was someone she had completely trusted, which was basically no one until Natsu and the band came along. They were her only companions besides Capricorn and Virgo and everyone she had left behind at the estate.

Through the itchy sack cloth, Lucy squinted and saw a neighborhood blur past. She couldn't see clearly, but it looked pretty familiar… the expensive marble fountains, the nicely decorated hedges, the crappy glass roof tiles that Lucy had begged to be taken off when her father placed them when she was a kid…

This time, she actually gasped. It was Heartfilia Estate. She was sure of it.

Unfortunately, her captors heard her through the bumpy car ride. "Aria! Check on her, would ya?" yelled a man in the front. Judging from the name, her other captor that was sleeping next to her was a man, too. Lucy wriggled, and only just then she realized that she was bound head to toe in ropes.

Obviously, she had to get out of these before she had to face these two. She wasn't even sure if her childhood self-defense training with Capricorn even sufficed years later, and these two didn't seem like cotton puffs.

My keys.

Wriggling around quietly so that 'Aria' wouldn't wake up, Lucy thrust her waist forward so that her keys could slowly slide out of her side pocket. Hopefully, the jingle of the keys wouldn't startle the sleeping man, and it wouldn't catch the attention of the man who had spoken earlier.

Got it. Her keys slid out of her pocket into her hand, the rope already straining and with few small snaps! Just a little bit more and her hands would be free. She ran a finger across the edges of the keys, until her finger bled on one of them. That had to be Taurus's key, the key of the golden bull.

The sharp edge of the key bit through her skin by accident. She grunted, blood spilling a bit on the tightened ropes.

If I just aim it right…

Finally, the sharp edge of the small axe-like tooth of the key bit through her ropes and released her sore hands. She was still careful not to make too much noise, massaging her red and rope-burned hands.

She leaned down with the axe-shaped key and cut through her leg-bound ropes as well, leaving her free.

Now that she was free, she looked a bit around the truck.

The truck was slicked black, the driver's' seat blocked off by a part of the truck and a small window placed in front. Lucy studied the sleeping man next to her, and she nearly screamed. He was holding an old-fashioned air gun, the rifle long and pointed thin straight up. Slowly, she grabbed the weapon and used the Cancer's key to snap the gun in two.

Now that was settled, Lucy still had yet to find out what the strange substance was that knocked her out. If she could get a hold of it, she could probably use it to knock her captors out and use their phone to call Natsu, as she still had his number memorized.

Lucy studied through her keys, debating which one to use. Aquarius's key didn't provide much use as the side of the key itself was smooth and thin. She could probably use the key to collect substances to hold within the small vase that was on top of the key, but as there was no water anywhere, that was useless.

Virgo's key and Gemini's key were nothing much, as they were nothing more than a calling card for when Lucy had needed the two of them to assist her in her childhood studies. Tiny chains were hanging from Virgo's as a harp embodied Gemini's. Maybe…

Lucy stared at the still-snoring man in front of her. Even without his gun, Aria could still be a potential threat as he was so huge. He could probably squash Lucy without even trying.

So first priority- get out of the truck. Easier said than done.

Lucy didn't notice that the truck had stopped as a hand clamped over her mouth.

* * *

And with a surprise roar, Natsu charged and sprinted towards the enemy.

I bet they weren't expecting me to go fast, he thought grimly. Maybe I'll catch them off-guard. His fist tried to come in contact with Juvia's doll-like face.

It wasn't like he didn't know how to fight. His old man had taught him simple martial arts, and he followed them through his life as a kind of reminder for his father.

"Not so fast," Juvia swiftly moved aside, and jabbed her parasol into Natsu's ribcage, then disappeared through the foggy rain. Turns out, the end was sharp.

Sol's thin figure was seemingly dancing through the rain. "We are the Element Four, young man. We don't take fighting lightly," he said maniacally with the same stupid accent. Natsu growled. "First off, I don't give a crap about your Element Four. Second, your accent is stupid."

He then materialized in front of Sol and swung his leg forward to meet with the side of Sol's own boot. "Ah, ah, ah, physical arts are my speciality. Care to show you?" His noodle leg struck Natsu's good arm, punctured bleeding where it struck. Natsu roared in pain. "AAARGH!"

Panting, Natsu kept swinging at the noodle-thin man. But wherever his arms or legs seemed to hit him, Sol's body was in a completely other stance as before. It was like he really was a noodle; one stance was his head through his legs. "WHERE'S LUCY!" bellowed Natsu, fists still swingin about. "WHERE DID YOU TAKE HER?"

But just then, a deep and smooth voice said, "What a joke."

Natsu and Sol swiveled around to see Gray, Juvia's winter coat right in his hands. "Natsu, you're way overdue. I'll take this one," he jutted a chin towards Juvia. He flung her coat back. "Careful, you'll need that. I don't want to hurt your pretty little face."

Natsu growled. "I don't need no freakin help, so stay out of it!"

But an even deeper voice bellowed, "Man up!"

A white-haired muscle-bound man was standing in front of a dark navy blue truck, a slender woman beside him. "Oh, my," gasped Mira as she took in Natsu's bleeding arm and two strangers glaring daggers in Gray and Natsu's eyes.

Elfman cracked his knuckles. "What's happened here?" 

Natsu yelled out, "THEY TOOK LUCY! WE NEED TO FIND HER, QUICK!"

Mira's blue eyes widened and then she nodded, grabbing a pair of car keys and a GPS. "Elfman, help Gray!" she commanded, the old Mira's confidence shining through her cobalt eyes.

The man growled. "No one hurts Fairy Tail without getting the price they deserve. I know firsthand."

Sol cackled. "So what? Juvia and I never told you the location! We never told you where Lucy Heartfilia is!"

Mira smacked her forehead. "Heartfilia?!" exclaimed Gray and Mira. "Isn't that the name of that really rich business owner?!" yelled Gray. Mira's blue eyes sharpened. "Heartfilia Estate! I know where it is, Natsu, get in the car!" 

Without hesitation, Natsu leapt into the blue truck. Gray whistled- it wasn't every day to see the guy who practically died from motion sickness to dive into the truck unannounced.

Sol advanced. "You will neavear rrrrreach her. I will make sure you don't!" Elfman blocked his way. "Can it, Noodle Guy. Your fight's with me." 

And with that, Mira and Natsu left them all in the pattering rain of the hospital outdoors.

* * *

"You wouldn't be too much of a challenge," Gray smirked, staring at Juvia. Juvia twirled her parasol, "Same to you," she said fiercely.

Gray had dragged the woman to the roof, where no one could distract or help them.

Juvia held her parasol in a ready stance, determined to defeat this black-haired man. But then…

Gray stripped right there, leaving Juvia completely mesmerized. "W-What are you doing?!" She said, shocked.

"I'm getting ready to win this battle!" Gray charged, aiming at Juvia's stomach. But Juvia knew better. She used the same tactic as before, and maneuvered her parasol to hit Gray in the stomach, sending him doubling over.

"J-Juvia is so sorry!" She said to him, covering her mouth. Oh, no! Juvia hurt him!

But then Gray rolled over to the side and charged, he reached out to grab Juvia's collar, but grabbed something else…

He found himself thinking aloud, "Soft… Big…" then Gray's jaw dropped open. "ARGH!" He shouted. Juvia blushed.

Gray's hand was on Juvia's breast.

He immediately extracted his hand, shaking it as if the memory of him touching her chest would somehow disappear. "I DIDN'T MEAN IT!" he roared.

Juvia sighed with pleasure, then shook her head, face still red. Don't fall for this man! She chided herself. Don't be like before…

Juvia swallowed, then pointed her parasol at Gray. "Juvia must fight for her agency! J-juvia really means Gray-sama no harm!" she squeaked.

Gray stood for a moment, flabbergasted. "Did you just say Gray-sama?"

And of course, Juvia chose that moment to attack.

She squeezed her eyes shut as she lengthened her parasol and slammed Gray in the gut, sending him flying backwards into a heavy trash lid.

"No!" she gasped, hands over her mouth.

Gray groaned and glared up at the sky. "I hate the rain. I can't fight in it."

I hate the rain.

I hate the rain.

I HATE THE RAIN.

Juvia roared and charged at Gray, parasol in hand and other hand seemingly dissolving in the mist. "YOU WILL PERISH!" she yelled.

Gray blinked. "What did I say?"

But just as Juvia aimed to point his vital spots, Gray glanced her parasol off on the trash lid and the momentary unbalance caused Juvia to slip and fall.

She slid off the edge of the hospital roof and her heartbeat drummed with every moment, forcing her to cherish the last breaths of life.

Is this how it ends? Is this how my life's become?

She closed her eyes as she plummeted towards certain death, six floors away and sixty feet below.

Then her hand was caught by something firmer, something warm, something that made her heart flutter.

"This fight isn't over yet!" Gray yelled, hauling her up. Juvia was shocked. "W-why did Gray-sama save Juvia?" She stuttered, trying to control herself.

"Because that's what we do! And besides, I'm gonna win this for real!" He shouted.

Juvia closed her eyes.

"Stop."

Gray glared at her. "I do you a favor by saving your life, and you turn down my challenge? Man this Element Four squad is weak."

Juvia's nostrils flared. "Juvia is doing this for Gray-sama's own good. Juvia is much more stronger than she looks, and Juvia does not wish to harm Gray-sama. Please, listen-"

She crumpled as Gray smacked her over the head. "I appreciate the concern, but I've got bigger problems, ya hear?"

He tore his eyes away from her as Elfman jogged up, scratched and bleeding in several places.

"Yo," called out Gray. Elfman nodded like a man. "I took care of that spaghetti guy. Not even worthy to be called a man." Gray smirked. "Well, I'm pretty sure I took care of her. Now to see what Natsu's up to," the two men started to walk away from Juvia, crumpled and on the floor. But what they didn't know was that Juvia was following them...

Eh. I wouldn't call this suspense, but that's that. Purr-chan's been busy with Summer School, so sorry about that.

Eh. I wouldn't call this suspense, but that's that. Joan-nee's been busy with Summer School, so sorry about that. (HAHAHA I TOTALLY COPIED KITTY)

Anywayyyyyy see you next chapter! Oh wait…

*clears throat* What is it that Juvia wants? Where exactly is Lucy taken? What will Gray and Elfman do now? Is Natsu and Mira really able to locate Lucy's location? (locate Lucy's location- lol.)

Peace from Magnolia, thank you for waiting this long,

~HowAboutTeam :]


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